Radiator core



Aug. 20, 1935..

w. o. EMMONS RADIATOR CORE Filed July 25, 1952 Patented Aug. 2%1935 I V I a I i iNeii EaDi STATES PATENT vQFFICE v Q 7 ,011,852 t l f V RADIATOR-CORE fl Willard O. Eimmons, Lockpor tnYl, assignor, i by mesne assignments, to General Motors Cor poration, Detroit, fMich a [corporation of Delaware 1 .Application July 25, 1932;, SerialNo. 624,402

f j 1 c m; totem-#130 This invention relates to'heat exchange devices, t with the ehot'surfaces ofthe l w s o and particularly to core structures of the celtakeup heattransferred from the waterQ; lular type. I I 1 i f A better understanding of the invention will be -Cellularcores are well known in the art and. d m the following deta Specification,

are usedextensively in eennectionwithwater h ving r f r nce-to-th accompanying win 5 cooled internal combustion engines} Although in which :Figure l is a from elevation of a core theecore here involved is not restricted to any [a k assembly- Figwure '2 is a perspective particular field, it is especially adapted'for use w f 4 Section Of e COTBJ Figure 3 ShOWS as apart of the main cooling system offan engine ale-fragment 0f the Core in Vertical Section, the

'10 and will be so referred to for the purpose ofldis c o ak ntmnsversly of h er '10 closing the novel features embodied therein 1 t a Figures 4 an are Side elevations, s As ordinarily constructed, an enginei n with parts in sectionof smallportions of the radiator includes n inlet tank and an outlet separator p; and th y us r optionaltypes r tank forisuitableconnection withthe'water jacket u p in in the fi sf5 or the engine, anda core or heat dissipating unit dmWins'there-is Shown e 1 a interposed between wo tank for the travel' vertical flowautomobile radiator, whichincludes .of lwaterainr thin streams from one tank to the a core heal? eXchaIlge i A having a pother. through a number of spaced passageways 3 a top k inlet-header r its or water tubes betweenwhich flows an air stream lower end a bottom Q Outlet hfiraider, Hot 1 to take up or absorb heat carried by the water. Water from g aftefentering h top According to preferred practice, the Water tubes tank, fl o r yan into h bottom tank each consist of two plates or strips of thin metal, forgretumto the enginei'the flow being through such as copper or brass, vplaced side by side with spaced passageways P ovided by the their intermediate portions spaced apart to proo g In its passage through the core the ,o vide \the passageway-Sand their edge portions I "water s cooled loy'an air stream passing through nested and joinedtogether and sealed by solder. h core tw Spaced Water itubes? In many'cases these strips are corrugated or Backwater tubeimay. 'ib P f otherwise formed to affordra more or. less tortuous W umts Placed bylside in face to face path for agitating the liquid to get greater heat m a as, shown m w n the mating 36 dissipation and a continuous washing or scrubwalls preferably P m i'. of a bing of the Walls. Aseparator or spacer stripis In h fi ia gh' 15 provldedalong generally interposed between the Watertubes for mammal tpn or egg-es W asuccessiion cooperation therewith and divides the intervenequafny Spaced mwar 4 .piroJectltl-g ing space into'arnulnberlof small air cells. 7 of im-Far o??? Shape Wlth the mtermgdlate e .7 The. formation of air cells and the path of mmf mfimhr c offseyvpresseqshghtly 35 travelof theair stream. are items, withfwhich outwardly toafioljdf wsubtam1auy at this invention is particularly concerned; and it is in the mfcermedlatg porfuon w Succeedan object of the invention'to provide afgroup of f W 1rP f rounded or air cells which open intoicneanother at intervals, gmma'tlonstg provlde grpoves or seats r for the diversion of a, portion of the incomirig W 101} extendwemlrely.acrqss'thevwau n ,from 40 air stream from cell to'cell, in succession, so' as i 1% dge the t m Seaman 3 .to fmake use'of as many particles of airas is b an Opposltely disposed ofisets there possible for the absorption of heat. maybelprovldfafd outwgrdty pressed.and rounded i A further' object of the invention'is to prov d fi g fiijgggggi g gg b gg g e I v r provieon o" sies i an Improved separator strlp which afiardsl an thereof;v guiding and centering surfaces leading 5 abundance of heat radiating surface and. a maxiv I 1 mum number of fins extending between the walls 52%? fi s s sgf g s gi jt fgi i gjpg g O adlacent b rows ot indentations 6 in transverse'alinement A further o i t. s to pr v dc serles t bafiied withthe offsets 2 and or corresponding semi- 5e pemns In h fimarr need f r cooperation I hexagonalioutline. 'It isto be understood that with the baffles/in succeedi fi s s t th the two walls of each water tube are nested tocomi air ,st a is horous broken up'and getherfwiththe'ofisets Z andlE .of. one wen in particles thereof moved progressively through staggered r'elationrtor those of the other wall, so 55 succeeding cells and into and out of wiping c'on- *thatxth'ey interfit' with each other and maintain 55 v I the intermediate portions spaced apart. The

provision of the intermediate indentations or spacers 6 is necessary only where the walls are a wide and support is needed to prevent'inward collapse of the walls.

To hold the water tubes in properlyspaced relation' to each other and increase the radiating surface,juse is made of a separator or fin plate of zigzag form, the corrugations preferably being relatively deep and providing a succession of oppositely inclined fins 1, extending from wall to wall with the reverse bends or apices between the relatively inclined fins of rounded forr'nation' for conveniently fitting the rounded seats 4.

It may be said here that the preferredmethod ofassemblying the parts described; consists of bending a preformed wall strip of substantially twice the length of the size core desired, back to back, with a spacer strip therebetweemand the grooves 4 in one side offset to the grooves "4 on the other section, so thatthe rounded bends 8 properly seat therein. To assist seating engagemer t, the projections 5 affordinclined guiding surfaces on which the portions 8 maybe slid into andfind their pr oper'seat in grooves 4. Several ofthe sub-assemblies are then nested together andheld in a suitable clamping fixture while the opposite edges or front and rear faces are dipped first in a flux and then in molten solder to seal the margins of the walls of the water passages and join the fins to the walls.- Because thecontact 0f the parts 4 and-8 is continuous from edge to edge, there will be an'inward capillary flow of I so thatmostof the tube surface is directly exposed to the air stream-and the bulk of the air in a given cell is closely adjacent thewall. To secure, maximum efliciency and transference of heat, it is desirable to agitate and stir the thin column of air to cause different particles ofair to sweep intoand out of contact with the radiating surface as they pass-through the core. To this end, it is proposed to "provide each inclined finpwith openings and scoop-likebaflles or deflectors to break up the'incoming stream and divert portions to other cells and at the same time direct, the particles alternately from one side to theother;

In the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated inFiguresZ and 4, each fin is provided with a suitableynumberjof spaced slits and the material of the; fin on both sidesof each slit is pressed out of the plane of the fin but in oppo- .site ,directions to form cooperating deflectors 9,

.with all thedefiectors to one side of the plane ofithe fin facing the same direction and those on the other side all facing i-n'the 'opposit'edirection. The two-defiectors at each'slit thus '00- operate in aiiording an inclined-passage between adjacent cells and the several passageways e11 incline in the same direction. 'For example, in

considering the left -hand end of the separator fragment, illustrated in Figure 4 'as being in the front face 'of'the core, the dir'ectionof inclination of an the communicating. passages "is from the upperfleft cornerl'to the lower right hand corner of the drawing. However, no special care need be exercised in inserting a separator strip between the. water passages, since the effect on the air wall of a given cell will be diverted into the next lower cell and join or merge with the portion' of the air stream which has previously passed along the upper wall of that cell. Thus the air particles that were in wiping contact with opposite sidesfof a given'fin move toward'the center of the air column beyond the deflecting passage and below the fin, with the outer strata of the air column occupied by air particles which prior to the shift were out of fin contact. The deflecting passages or inclined chutes being in longitudinal alin'ement in the several fins the transfer occurs in all cells at the same point and eliminates interference to freefiow. The'rearrangement of air particles is repeated at intervals as the air particles travel through the core. That is, the individual particles are alternately in the central andouter strata, the changes occurring as each deflector passage, is reached; By properly gagingthe heighthof the deflector portions in the cell, the inward and outward movement of the par.- ticles may be governed so. that a progressive change; in, strata, ratherthan abrupt. change is effected. In this way, the air particles are throwninto and out of wiping contact with the radiating surfaces, and since the streams are relatively narrow,.practically every particle will for a part of, its travelfstrikethe walls and absorb heat, therefrom. For this reason a maximum heat transfer is obtained. without any appreciable restriction to free flow. Some of the air par ticles entering one cell will transferat each passageway and travelsuccessively in from three to seven cells, depending on the number of transfer points provided, before leavingthe core.

In addition to the movement just referred to,

.-the .air particles will be moved laterally to one side. or another as the transferv is'eifected" The cause of this will be best appreciated from an inspection of Figure 3, where it will be noticed that the leading edge and main body of each deflector lies in a horizontal plane and at an angle to the inclined fin. This means that the widest part of the ,mouth of the passageway is positioned in the widest partof .the triangular shaped cell and that the widest part of the outlet is in the widestpart of. the next adjacent cell. Since the wide and narrow parts of succeeding cells are alternately arranged, it follows that the air scooped from thewide part of one-cell is directed laterally through the passage and into the wide part of. the adjacent cell. From the last mentioned cell, the transfer to the succeeding cell effects a lateral movement, but in the opposite directionl Thus the air particles will alternately each pair-is twisted to form the deflector or vane I 0, 'onef'endfof which extends above and the other end below the plane-of the fin. number 61 ,6

deflector passages may be used, depending upon the size of the core and its conditions of use.

Iclaim: ,g A heat exchanger for conducting fluid between 'apair of spaced tanks, including a group of V spaced passages extendingfrom one tank to the other and each comprisinga pair of mating wall strips, fin seats arranged in staggered relation on adjacent strips of successive passages, zigzag fin strips spacing said passages and each providing a series of fins extending in inclined relation on straight linesfrom one strip to the other-and V seating along opposite sides in the staggereds'eats of the strips, each in converging relation to the next succeeding fins, to provide a'stack of alternately disposed triangular air cells, a series of air chutes. in the fins arranged in sets spaced from each other between the front-and rear of l the core and inl'ongitudinal alignment ineach set, and inclinedin the same direction from front to rear of the core and extending substantially normal to. the wall strips at the entrance mouths thereof to provide an entrance opening for each chute that tapers in area and is largest in the widest part of the triangular air cell, whereby a same relative positions in all the cells simultanee ously and in the same direction from front to rear but to opposite sides at succeeding chutes.

WILLARD O. EMMQNS.

, progressive movement of air particles through 10 succeeding cells occurs at regular intervals at the 

